Some new stuff going on today: if you click the category or any tag for an article, you now get to an index of front page posts with that tag or category. If you scroll all the way to the bottom there's a "More Articles" button that lets you load another 10 articles with that tag/category.

"SCHLAGETER: Good old Fritz! (Laughing.) No paradise will entice you out of your barbed wire entanglement!

THIEMANN: That's for damned sure! Barbed wire is barbed wire! I know what I'm up against.... No rose without a thorn!... And the last thing I'll stand for is ideas to get the better of me! I know that rubbish from '18 ..., fraternity, equality, ..., freedom ..., beauty and dignity! You gotta use the right bait to hook 'em. And then, you're right in the middle of a parley and they say: Hands up! You're disarmed..., you republican voting swine!—No, let 'em keep their good distance with their whole ideological kettle of fish ... I shoot with live ammunition! When I hear the word culture ..., I release the safety on my Browning!"

SCHLAGETER: What a thing to say!

THIEMANN: It hits the mark! You can be sure of that.
SCHLAGETER: You've got a hair trigger."

I'm not sure.. I'll ask him..Just some old broken down rusty POS. The pic was taken after the war of Fallujah and was completely destroyed and put down.
Jordan would take all the hard candy we sent him to give to the kids there cause they lived through effen Hell. Many children and wives were used as human shields

The head of the NRA's bid to place armed guards in schools nationwide said the effort is serious and not simply window dressing in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.

[...]

Hutchinson insisted that armed volunteers in schools is one of a laundry list of ideas that he and his team will consider as it prepares a set of recommendations on best security practices for schools to consider.

“What's important to me is that we don't start into this study with a closed mind,” Hutchinson said.

Another option, Hutchinson said, is arming school personnel — teachers and administrators — who are interested in firearms training.

The idea of armed volunteers and teachers has evoked much caustic criticism from gun control proponents.

Sadly, I belief something like this could happen now. For me, the fact it was a Conservative who stumbled on it gives credence in my eyes. Many are quite will to look the other way, or do race-baiting themselves.

It's either Photoshop or someone put up fake signage and took a picture of it.

From the diary at Kos:

4:57 PM PT: There are some who arguing that this is a photoshop. I have spoken to people who have seen the sign, so I am confident it is not. However, I will be driving down to the park in Milford, DE in the early morning to photograph it for myself to prove to the doubters that this racism is in fact real.

He doesn't give out the address of the place where this sign is so that other people can also see for themselves. Why not?

I re-tweeted that, then noticed the smaller sign has the bigger fasteners.

I figured it out with the help of some of the comments. First, the two signs aren't about the same thing. One is for a playground while the Spanish one is for a field. Some park worker just put the Spanish one meant for a playing field in the playground. If it was a deliberate Photoshop they wouldn't have translated it into something about a playground. Mystery solved.

ProPublica decided to take a look at what's happened legislatively in states where some of the worst shootings in recent U.S. history have occurred to see what effect, if any, those events had on gun laws.

We found that while legislators in Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, New York, Texas and Colorado sometimes contemplated tightening rules after rampage shootings, few measures gained passage. In fact, several states have made it easier to buy more guns and take them to more places.

Iowa farmland reached a record $8,296 an acre as of November 1, a rise of $1,588 an acre, or 23.7%, from 2011, according to the annual Iowa State University (ISU) Land Value Survey. This marks the third year in a row values have increased by more than 15%, says Dr. Mike Duffy, leader of the survey. For perspective, Iowa land values rose at a rate exceeding 30% a year for the consecutive years of 1973, 1974 and 1975. A 25% annual increase then followed in 1976.

The percentage increase is stronger than the 18% rise (October 2011 to September 2012 basis) reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The stronger percentage gain reported by the ISU survey reflects the powerful demand that swept across Iowa this fall.

Highest County: O’Brien with an estimated $12,862 average value. It also had the strongest percentage increase and highest dollar increase in values at 35.2% and $3,348, respectively. Surprisingly, nearby Osceola, Dickinson and Lyon counties also saw 35.2% increases each.

[...]

I wonder about what kind of inflation is coming at us - something predictable or something uglier. We live in strange times, when official "cost of living" wage rates are zero or near so, but when other parts of our economy can undergo radical price increases.

That reminds me there's a Franciscan order just a few block away from me. I should go talk to them and see how they feel about atheists. I checked out the Zen franchises in town and they're all moonbats. No country for old men.

That reminds me there's a Franciscan order just a few block away from me. I should go talk to them and see how they feel about atheists. I checked out the Zen franchises in town and they're all moonbats. No country for old men.

Is there a sale on atheists or something? Or are you just trying to make a buck?

That reminds me there's a Franciscan order just a few block away from me. I should go talk to them and see how they feel about atheists. I checked out the Zen franchises in town and they're all moonbats. No country for old men.

That reminds me there's a Franciscan order just a few block away from me. I should go talk to them and see how they feel about atheists. I checked out the Zen franchises in town and they're all moonbats. No country for old men.

Re-reading that 5 years later it becomes all the more obvious why I disliked Romney (and McCain for that matter) even back then.

Mr. Romney criticized the energy bill signed into law last month by President Bush that requires cars and trucks sold in the United States to achieve a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Substantial majorities in both parties in both houses of Congress approved the measure. Mr. McCain voted for it.

Mr. Romney said he opposed the new mileage standard, describing it as an anvil tossed to Detroit by a government that did not understand the auto industry or care about its workers. “As president, I will not rest as Detroit gets to see layoff after layoff after layoff,” he said.

Mr. Romney proposed increased government spending for research on advanced fuels and vehicles, aid to automakers to deal with the costs of health care and pensions for retirees, and tax cuts for most taxpayers to help them buy new cars.

That was classic Mitt, from which he did not veer even in 2012. He simultaneously objected to mileage requirements imposed by the government, but then in the same breath proposed increased spending on researching fuels. IOW, he played both the anti-government and pro-pork crowds simultaneously.

More importantly though it seems as if the GOP really hasn't recovered from its anti-GWB blues, now 8 years after the latter's 2004 re-election. It's still deeply entrenched in heatedly worded, absurd self-contradictions, like all those who voted against the Sandy Relief bill but had previously been supporters of such efforts in other parts of the country.

If it isn't fake, it's a fail on the translator. It seems they used a computer translator to make this (the verb form is very wrong, for example). I'd have fun with them, and gently point out a better translation.

The ring, if it can be called that, represents "the largest organized structure in what we call the local group of galaxies," says Michael Rich, a research astronomer at the University of California at Los Angeles and a member of the team reporting the results in the Jan. 3 issue of the journal Nature. The local group consists of more than 54 galaxies, including dwarfs, about 10 million light-years across.

Such rings don't appear when astrophysicists run their models of galaxy evolution, or when they model the local group's formation, he says. In addition, Andromeda and the Milky Way, the two most massive galaxies in the group, appear to be headed for a collision in about 4.5 billion years. The two galaxies are but 2.5 million light-years away and closing.

"Given all of this, we don't have a clear explanation for why this structure exists," Dr. Rich says.

More about the Twitter Gulag Defense Network
The original TCOT kind of fell apart over egos, but is still used daily to disseminate information between conservatives who use Twitter. The TCOT website is still up and running, too. You can go there and see most of the original TCOT bunch, arraigned by follower count.

It's either Photoshop or someone put up fake signage and took a picture of it.

It is real, but it is a mistake, a helpful commenter from the town has a reasonable sounding explanation for what happened...

live in Milford and know where the sign is, although I haven't seen it myself, since it is on a playground near a new elementary school, and my kids are out of elementary school.

Let me begin by saying that the sign is wrong, and I'll contact the school superintendent, and knowing her, it will be fixed ASAP. However, there are similar signs in both English and Spanish near the HS, which refer to playing on the ball fields without permits. Since the pictured playground is next to a field, the sign most likely refers to playing on the field, not the equipment. It needs to be fixed and clarified.

Hundreds of demonstrators converged on Steubenville, Ohio on Saturday to demand justice for the 16-year-old victim of an alleged rape in August, in a case that has garnered national attention.

WTRF-TV reported that protesters at the “Occupy Steubenville” included visitors from as far away as California and New York, and even overseas.

Several of the demonstrators wore masks or carried signs bearing the likeness of Guy Fawlkes, the symbol of the “Anonymous” hacker collective. An affiliated group, KnightSec, brought the case further to light after releasing video and other evidence it said was swept under the rug for the sake of protecting the town’s high school football program, including mockery of the victim.

I think this will be one for the social science textbooks. Football players (allegedly) commit a rape and brag about it through electronic media, town covers it up, anonymous people drag it back out using electronic subterfuge to expose the evidence, world takes notice. Biz-ARRE. "Anonymous" allegedly posted a video taken the night of the assault, even.

It's amazing, really. I'm not sure what to think. Frankly I need somebody smarter to give me some pointers on this one...

I think this will be one for the social science textbooks. Football players (allegedly) commit a rape and brag about it through electronic media, town covers it up, anonymous people drag it back out using electronic subterfuge to expose the evidence, world takes notice. Biz-ARRE. "Anonymous" allegedly posted a video taken the night of the assault, even.

It's amazing, really. I'm not sure what to think. Frankly I need somebody smarter to give me some pointers on this one...

Above my pay grade, but by me, the hacking is justified. We don't know for an absolute fact that they committed the rapes, but the tape sure looks authentic. Only in the world of court proceedings do we dignify the residual uncertainty about the authenticity of the tape with "allegedly". That tape was taken that night, for sure. It's not a forgery. And the authorities of Steubenville ought to have got on the job and brung the bastids in pronto. Before forensic evidence could go missing or stale.

On Thursday, O'Reilly devoted a segment of his Fox News show, The O'Reilly Factor, to Hawaii. After playing a pre-recorded video of producer Jesse Watters doing man-on-the-street interviews in Hawaii, O'Reilly said that the state is one of his "favorite places in the world," but that it has "a lot of social problems." He went on to say that "35 percent of the Hawaiian population is Asian," and added: "Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They're usually more industrious and hard-working."

In response, Hanabusa criticized O'Reilly for "thoughtlessly insult[ing] 1.3 million people with one sweeping misstatement," and said that "O'Reilly's attempt to characterize Hawaii's Asian-American population is most insulting of all." She characterized his comments as "the kind of one dimensional and paternalistic attitude that we should have gotten past decades ago."

The visitation denials are the latest in a series of misfortunes to befall Maria Sanchez and her family.

Two years ago, upon learning that she was in the country illegally, the University of Texas Medical Branch ejected her from the hospital shortly before scheduled surgery on a spinal tumor.

The tumor has slowly choked the life from her, gradually taking away control of her limbs and recently her eyesight. Scrawled on her discharge paper was the suggestion that she seek surgery in Mexico.

A UTMB statement at the time said federal privacy laws prevented the hospital from commenting on a specific case.

Sanchez's husband, Luis Aguillon, moved Sanchez and their 5-year-old daughter, Melissa, from Galveston to Houston so she could receive care at Ben Taub Hospital. Doctors there told her the tumor was too close to her spine to be removed surgically, and advised her to put her affairs in order.

Jose Sanchez and his wife, Ninfa, both 48, on Thursday returned to their tiny village in the coastal state of Veracruz, about 180 miles east of Mexico City.

The impoverished couple had borrowed money for a bus ride to Mexico City, then a plane ride to Reynosa for the failed attempt to see the eldest of their six children.

“We miss her a lot, like any parents, no?” Jose Sanchez said by phone from the village of Napoala on Friday. “But we are resigned since we have been placed in a helpless situation, knowing that we can't be there with her.”

Aguillon said his wife has not seen her parents in nine years. He said it was difficult to tell her for the third time that her parents were refused entry.

“She got sad,” said Aguillon, who is in this country legally. “Imagine you are dying, you want to see your mom and your dad.”

I wonder about what kind of inflation is coming at us - something predictable or something uglier. We live in strange times, when official "cost of living" wage rates are zero or near so, but when other parts of our economy can undergo radical price increases.

Be careful what you say. Muttering about inflation is the sign of a wingnut.

There has been a stunning increase in the official measures of the money supply. On its face, that should have produced a sharp burst of inflation. But.

Money isn't what it used to be. For all practical purposes, a credit card limit that people treat as a bank balance amounts to money, at least for a while. It works as if it were money, enabling spending. Likewise with many other forms of credit.

After the crash, people began to pay down credit balances. That has destroyed a lot of pseudo-money, somewhat balancing the increase in the official money supply. Or at least, that's my theory.

If true, this opens the door to inflation if and when credit flows more liberally, but until then, we won't get our inflation until yet another burst of money issuing rolls around.

As it must, if the deficit remains anything like it has been. So far, the president has not proposed any measures that would meaningfully rein it in. The Republicans in Congress have vowed to fight any tax increases on the middle class, and without that, nothing short of politically unthinkable cuts to social security, the military, etc. could close the gap.

I think this will be one for the social science textbooks. Football players (allegedly) commit a rape and brag about it through electronic media, town covers it up, anonymous people drag it back out using electronic subterfuge to expose the evidence, world takes notice. Biz-ARRE. "Anonymous" allegedly posted a video taken the night of the assault, even.

It's amazing, really. I'm not sure what to think. Frankly I need somebody smarter to give me some pointers on this one...

The difference between us and India is only one of degree...women are still at risk.

Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers.

Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own.

In California, Aetna is proposing rate increases of as much as 22 percent, Anthem Blue Cross 26 percent and Blue Shield of California 20 percent for some of those policy holders, according to the insurers’ filings with the state for 2013. These rate requests are all the more striking after a 39 percent rise sought by Anthem Blue Cross in 2010 helped give impetus to the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, which was passed the same year and will not be fully in effect until 2014.

In other states, like Florida and Ohio, insurers have been able to raise rates by at least 20 percent for some policy holders. The rate increases can amount to several hundred dollars a month.

The proposed increases compare with about 4 percent for families with employer-based policies.

I have no doubt that premium rates will go up considerably more over the next few years. Health costs have been going up strongly for some time, and trying to cover more people who otherwise couldn't afford a certain level of care will simply have to be paid for by those who can afford it.

All the efforts at cost cutting might add up to something, but in the end upping the demand for healthcare is a strong force pushing up costs.

And yes, I suspect that the whiners over Obama-care will use this data to support their efforts to gut the legislation.

expect to see a ton of specific, anecdotal evidence of how the plan is failing while these critics fail to offer any other alternative than returning to the status quo ante of 40 milion uninsured Americans, many of whom use emergency care as a last (expensive) resort for treatment of conditions that could have been prevented and would have cost us all a lot less had they been insured.

With a new GOP supermajority in place for the dawn of the 108th General Assembly this week, Democrats find themselves facing irrelevancy except in cases where the ruling Republicans are divided.

[...]

The session formally convenes at noon on Tuesday. Republicans have 70 seats in the 99-member House and 26 in the 33-member Senate, marking the first time since the Reconstruction era of the late 1860s when the GOP had such ironclad control.

[...]

[P]ropose a substantial reform of the state's workers compensation system. He has not revealed details of the latter, though it is widely expected to end most of the court system's involvement in deciding payments due to workers injured on the job.

The governor determinedly avoided taking a stance on some of the more controversial issues to be considered by the General Assembly, including two hot topics in education — creating a school voucher system in Tennessee and making it easier for the state to override local boards of education that reject a charter school's application.

[...]

The first bill pre-filed for the legislative session — by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown — would block Haslam from implementing an expansion of Medicare coverage to more Tennesseans, as authorized but not required under the federal Affordable Care Act and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Haslam is officially undecided on whether to seek an expansion, saying he sees the benefits but worries about the potential costs.

[...]

The failure in 2012 of a bill to allow a company's employees to keep their firearms in locked cars, even if the company prohibits guns on its premises, will be revisited. In the session's opening week, a task force appointed by Harwell will be looking at a proposal by Sen. Stacey Campfield as a possible compromise.

[...]

n After the horrific mass murders at a Connecticut elementary school, legislators including Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, and Campfield proposed legislation with the goal of having more people with guns watching over school children. The proposals differ somewhat in details, with Niceley focusing on training school employees in law enforcement and Campfield on allowing handgun permit holders to be the armed overseers.

[...] Comptroller Justin Wilson is pushing for repeal of a property tax break for the solar equipment industry.

[...]

Quite the agenda:

- eliminate the right of workers to have compensation decided in a court of law;
- school vouchers;
- centralize control of schools from local school boards who object to vouchers;
- block expansion of Medicare;
- target exclusively green energy companies (but not say coal companies);
- and of course, MOAR GUNZ!!, everywhere.

That is the contemporary Republican party, encapsulated so well in one state.

- eliminate the right of workers to have compensation decided in a court of law;
- school vouchers;
- centralize control of schools from local school boards who object to vouchers;
- block expansion of Medicare;
- target exclusively green energy companies (but not say coal companies);
- and of course, MOAR GUNZ!!, everywhere.

That is the contemporary Republican party, encapsulated so well in one state.

And this is why the GOP establishment cannot begin to distance themselves from these people: they rely on them to heavily at a state and local level. So they have to try and deal with them in Washington, which is proving all but impossible for any sane person.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker hasn’t issued a pardon or set up the next version of the state’s Pardon Advisory Board, refusing to exercise one of his office’s most expansive powers to restore felons’ former rights.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said Monday the governor has suspended the pardon program but offered no explanation beyond “because he has made the decision not to grant any pardons at this time.” Werwie didn’t have any numbers on how many people have requested a pardon, saying only that the office has received “a bunch.”

Some governors simply don't issue pardons unless its needed for a case where the person was obviously railroaded or other such system failure. Other than that sort of thing, Scott Walker likely thinks that those who commit felonies should be permanently labeled as felons.

Scott Walker has strongly focused on those who are or can be persuaded to be voters who will cast ballots for him. Convicted felons, if their voting rights are restored, overwhelmingly vote for Democrats (John Gresham said it best, "A liberal is a conservative who's been arrested.") and thus Gov. Walker has no interest in doing things for them. From his (IMO valid) point of view, issuing pardons risks blowing up in his face if those pardoned commit new crimes and gains him nothing, therefore he won't do it.

- eliminate the right of workers to have compensation decided in a court of law;
- school vouchers;
- centralize control of schools from local school boards who object to vouchers;
- block expansion of Medicare;
- target exclusively green energy companies (but not say coal companies);
- and of course, MOAR GUNZ!!, everywhere.

That is the contemporary Republican party, encapsulated so well in one state.

Wow, if they manage to do all that the state will lose so many people and so much revenue that the federal government will be able to turn it into a national park.

Granted, Nixon was not convicted of any crimes after being pardoned, he just scuppered Ford's chance at re-election...

Willie Horton wasn't pardoned, he was given a weekend furlough. But Michael Dukakis was the governor of Massachusetts when Horton committed the horrific rape that formed the core of 'Willie Horton issue', and Dukakis defended the furlough program when asked about it, which allowed Lee Atwater an opening which Atwater eagerly exploited.

Mornin' everyone...except any cheeseheads...fuckin' Packers had our number yesterday.

You had two good runners on the field with Peterson and Webb, but Webb wasn't ready to create the pass plays that could have reduced Green Bay's run defense, and the Packers successfully adapted their defensive doctrine to reduce Peterson's effectiveness to an acceptable level.

If he lost the two dozen chains he has around his neck, that shirt would actually look good on him.

I'd also say he should lose the bracelets and most of the rings, keeping one ring for each hand. Then have a slightly smaller, better fitting watch. Then he'd look good. As it stands, I concur with lawhawk's judgement of "Far too ostentatious."

Scott Walker has strongly focused on those who are or can be persuaded to be voters who will cast ballots for him. Convicted felons, if their voting rights are restored, overwhelmingly vote for Democrats (John Gresham said it best, "A liberal is a conservative who's been arrested.") and thus Gov. Walker has no interest in doing things for them. From his (IMO valid) point of view, issuing pardons risks blowing up in his face if those pardoned commit new crimes and gains him nothing, therefore he won't do it.

So you consider it perfectly valid that issuing a pardon and thus, theoretically, ensuring justice is done, should be denied if the wronged person probably won't vote for you?

I'd also say he should lose the bracelets and most of the rings, keeping one ring for each hand. Then have a slightly smaller, better fitting watch. Then he'd look good. As it stands, I concur with lawhawk's judgement of "Far too ostentatious."

He's 32, a money lender, and probably listens to crappy music while chasing the Indian equivalent of Snooki around Mumbai. Ostentatious is what he's enjoying right now.

Some governors simply don't issue pardons unless its needed for a case where the person was obviously railroaded or other such system failure. Other than that sort of thing, Scott Walker likely thinks that those who commit felonies should be permanently labeled as felons.

If it is a case of a reasonably clear injustice, then a pardon should be issued regardless of interested. One does not need to be an altruist to believe in justice.

- eliminate the right of workers to have compensation decided in a court of law;
- school vouchers;
- centralize control of schools from local school boards who object to vouchers;
- block expansion of Medicare;
- target exclusively green energy companies (but not say coal companies);
- and of course, MOAR GUNZ!!, everywhere.

Tennessee is ground zero for the modern evangelical movement. Most of these people will watch the education system become medieval and they will love it.

Who picks their teams by geography? I picked the Vikings the old fashioned way...because I liked their uniforms and their name...yeah, I was 10 at the time, but I picked my team and I'm sticking with it.

Who picks their teams by geography? I picked the Vikings the old fashioned way...because I liked their uniforms and their name...yeah, I was 10 at the time, but I picked my team and I'm sticking with it.

Most people pick the teams they grow up near. This does mean that you have enclaves of fans of other cities' team in Chicago, but most people raised in Chicago root for the Bears for football and the Blackhawks for NHL hockey (if they follow hockey, since its not as popular as football).

For baseball, Chicago is still very geographical: The North Side roots for the Cubs, the South Side roots for the White Sox.

Could not disagree more. The Bears have a serious problem, and his name is Jay Cutler. He's an overrated, prima-donna, whiny little bitch. Vince Lombardi could not coach that loser.

Cutler isn't the problem, its bad planning that is the problem. Get Cutler a tight end who can catch reliably, another decent wide receiver, and get a good-quality offensive lineman or two and the Bears are good for 12-4. Cutler's fine. How many times does he have to get hit or play hurt to prove it to you? Hell, before halftime in the game where he got the concussion this year he still went back in and ran, not sliding but taking the hit to get the yardage. Show him some respect, I think he's earned it.

Sounds like he's going to be another Steve Young. So brain dead he can't do a Prius commercial without some old lady carrying him through it.

Concussions are serious. Take the helmets and pads out of football and you'll reduce the injuries. Rugby players have far more contact and far less major injury because players aren't encased in armour which allows them to hurl themselves like projectiles into other human ordinance. It's not the contact with the other players that causes the concussion. It's the brain stopping against the inside of the skull.

A 2004 study by Stanford Business School discovered fascinating facts about how no-fault divorce impacted women:

-20% reduction in female suicide after 20 years (none for men)
-33% reduction in domestic violence against women (after a rise in other states vs. a drop in no-fault states)
-Decline in the domestic murder rate for women (none for men)

Researchers concluded a key driver of these trends was that men were encouraged to behave better because they knew it would be easy for their spouses to divorce.

I get down-dinged for a freaking take on the Bears, Dark??!! What the fuck is that about? LOL!!!

I have no dog in this fight as I'm a Texans fan, though I see Cutler's act on the sidelines and can't help but wonder what his teammates think of his attitude. At times I have seen Cutler look like the second-coming of Joe Montana, but more often than not look like a typical Bears' quarterback: average at best. He is a key ingredient to the Bears' post-7-1 start slide; Lovie had no business getting fired, either. Face it Dark, Cutler sucks.

One sign (scroll down to the bottom) has the same message in English and Spanish. All the other signs have a much harsher message in Spanish than in English.

It seems less like deliberate racism than lazy stupidity by someone who doesn't speak Spanish.

Yes, it was a mistake by someone who can't read Spanish, the High school ball field next to the playground requires a permit to use. That sign should have only been placed there not in front of the playground too. It seems like a reasonable excuse to me, they just need to change the sign to one with an actual translation of the English one. Here in my county you aren't allowed to use the high school football fields unless you are part of a team that has a permit that allows you to use the field either.

One of the comments in the thread last night pointed out what was going on...

I live in Milford and know where the sign is, although I haven't seen it myself, since it is on a playground near a new elementary school, and my kids are out of elementary school.

Let me begin by saying that the sign is wrong, and I'll contact the school superintendent, and knowing her, it will be fixed ASAP. However, there are similar signs in both English and Spanish near the HS, which refer to playing on the ball fields without permits. Since the pictured playground is next to a field, the sign most likely refers to playing on the field, not the equipment. It needs to be fixed and clarified.
[Link: www.dailykos.com...]

Thanks for that. One of my pet wingnuts likes to harp at length about how no-fault divorce is the cause for so much of society's current ills, asserting that things like domestic abuse and murder were rare before no-fault because society looked down on men who did such things. In short, he's got a very "Leave It to Beaver" viewpoint on what married life was like back before no-fault.

Three of the intelligence sources and a Taliban commander said that Wali Muhammed, also known as Toofin, was among the dead. He supervised suicide bomb squads for the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban has established sanctuaries in the mountainous Babar area, 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Wana, the main city of the South Waziristan region, they said.

South Waziristan is controlled by the Pakistani army, which operates under an uneasy truce with militants from the local Wazir tribe.

Sunday's strike followed the death of Mullah Nazir, a Waziri militant leader, on Wednesday. Nazir supported attacks on American forces in Afghanistan but had signed two peace deals with the Pakistani army. On Sunday, thousands of his tribesmen protested against his killing.

Thanks for that. One of my pet wingnuts likes to harp at length about how no-fault divorce is the cause for so much of society's current ills, asserting that things like domestic abuse and murder were rare before no-fault because society looked down on men who did such things. In short, he's got a very "Leave It to Beaver" viewpoint on what married life was like back before no-fault.

The link to the Stanford Research Paper is listed as well in the article. The PDF is interesting.

Stadium beer is also 3.2% alcohol. Keep 'em peeing, and they won't have time to fight.

When the Lions played at the Silverdome there were fights in the crowd every game it seemed, always in the 2nd half for some odd reason. /

I once saw a guy wearing a Washington Redskins warm-up suit get into the bathroom line during halftime and start taunting the Lion's fans because the Skins were beating us pretty bad that day, and some guy in line just punched him in the mouth and knocked him to the ground and no one even blinked. dude just picked himself up and went to another bathroom.

The Ford Field crowd is much more refined. You never see fights in the crowd anymore..

Thanks for that. One of my pet wingnuts likes to harp at length about how no-fault divorce is the cause for so much of society's current ills, asserting that things like domestic abuse and murder were rare before no-fault because society looked down on men who did such things. In short, he's got a very "Leave It to Beaver" viewpoint on what married life was like back before no-fault.

Right, like the Steubenville, Ohio football players who may or may not get prison sentences for rape and abuse? And, there is William Kennedy Smith and who else???

I once saw a guy wearing a Washington Redskins warm-up suit get into the bathroom line during halftime and start taunting the Lion's fans because the Skins were beating us pretty bad that day, and some guy in line just punched him in the mouth and knocked him to the ground and no one even blinked. dude just picked himself up and went to another bathroom.

If only they were both armed.

I don't know who's more of a douche, Loudmouth or Smashmouth. It's a fucking game, laugh cheer and have fun.

Like it or not it's our only hope to get out of Afghanistan leaving behind a stable country.

There is no hope of that. We just need to leave and know it'll continue to be the graveyard of empires. We've lost as has everyone since Alexander. It's time to admit that and stop killing kids for no good reason.

Right, like the Steubenville, Ohio football players who may or may not get prison sentences for rape and abuse? And, there is William Kennedy Smith and who else???

Of course, I've argued that with him before, that society always had a way of arguing that any woman who got knocked around had brought it on herself. If anything, society of the time had a lower opinion of a man who was seen as unable to "control his woman." It's where comments about "wearing the pants in the family" came from.

Of course, I've argued that with him before, that society always had a way of arguing that any woman who got knocked around had brought it on herself. If anything, society of the time had a lower opinion of a man who was seen as unable to "control his woman." It's where comments about "wearing the pants in the family" came from.

Leave it to Beaver was a TV show and the mythical perfect past, wasn't.

When people start talking about how much better it used to be, I simply remind them that if they want to back to Jim Crow then they are racist.

I'm beginning to think the only way that is going to happen is if the land itself is made uninhabitable. The people will have to go elsewhere and assimilate.

The only sure fire way is to get Pakistan to take control over the tribal areas but they've shown no interest in doing it. Why they want to remain a failed state is beyond me but I suspect it has a lot to do with Pakistan's intelligence service using terrorist groups in the area to spread Pakistani influence in the region. It's a mess.

Russia wants no part of it
Non of the European nations would do it aloneChina has never shown interest in something of that nature

There's really nobody left

China likes to play everything close to its chest. It may have no short-term plans, but long-term? Who can say. Certainly it seemed like the US had no interest in Afghanistan prior to 9/11, besides the usual finger-wagging at the Taliban.

China likes to play everything close to its chest. It may have no short-term plans, but long-term? Who can say. Certainly it seemed like the US had no interest in Afghanistan prior to 9/11, besides the usual finger-wagging at the Taliban.

They (China) may pump money in if the US/ UN leaves but I doubt very much they would put boots on the ground

I've been thinking about our previous topic of domestic violence and divorce.

The problem with the "society looks down on men that do such things" argument is that these men thrive in secrecy. Society can only look down on them if society knows. Most domestic violence situations are not known. Like alcoholism, family members collude in some twisted sense of loyalty to hide the truth from the rest of the world as well as themselves.

They (China) may pump money in if the US/ UN leaves but I doubt very much they would put boots on the ground

That's just it, a military occupation in a place like Afghanistan would be counterproductive, would actually incite animosity towards the "invaders." But funneling in all sorts of money, infrastructure, and technological know-how while providing political cover for whichever government comes to power, would be more welcome. See also: Al-Qaeda.

According to GovTrack.US, U.S. Rep. Jose’ Serrano, D-N.Y., introduced House joint resolution 15 on Jan. 4, which proposes “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.”

That's just it, a military occupation in a place like Afghanistan would be counterproductive, would actually incite animosity towards the "invaders." But funneling in all sorts of money, infrastructure, and technological know-how while providing political cover for whichever government comes to power, would be more welcome. See also: Al-Qaeda.

That's just it, a military occupation in a place like Afghanistan would be counterproductive, would actually incite animosity towards the "invaders." But funneling in all sorts of money, infrastructure, and technological know-how while providing political cover for whichever government comes to power, would be more welcome. See also: Al-Qaeda.

Yes, but that money, infrastructure, and technological know-how will be stopped at and controlled by whoever is in charge, just like now, just as in the past, never filtering to the populace

China has been propping them up for decades and it never gets to the people

True, but again, we have to think long-term. Afghanistan's well-placed to put China on the map as the world's center for energy technology in the decades ahead, sitting on a wealth of mineral resources that could go to clean energy efforts. Nothing about that says that the populace needs to be fat and happy, just educated enough to work the machines.

True, but again, we have to think long-term. Afghanistan's well-placed to put China on the map as the world's center for energy technology in the decades ahead, sitting on a wealth of mineral resources that could go to clean energy efforts. Nothing about that says that the populace needs to be fat and happy, just educated enough to work the machines.

I picked the Vikings the old fashioned way...because I liked their uniforms and their name...yeah, I was 10 at the time, but I picked my team and I'm sticking with it.

I chose the Packers back when I was in high school. Between the asshole owner of the Cowboys (Jerry Jones) and the asshole owner of the Oilers/Titans (Bud Adams) in the news all the time when I was a kid, I was sick and tired of all the football drama and politics. Green Bay are the only team where the city owns them. Voila! Asshole owner avoided. Plus, the fans are unfailingly loyal. I like that.

I've been thinking about our previous topic of domestic violence and divorce.

The problem with the "society looks down on men that do such things" argument is that these men thrive in secrecy. Society can only look down on them if society knows. Most domestic violence situations are not known. Like alcoholism, family members collude in some twisted sense of loyalty to hide the truth from the rest of the world as well as themselves.

"society" is also highly subjective and consistent on how it views activity: we know from experience that certain groups can get away with activities that are punished when done by others.

.... the ideological divisions buried during the campaign have already resurfaced and must be dealt with. Realists who opposed the Iraq war will have to confront neoconservatives who think that American power can still accomplish a lot -- in Syria and elsewhere. Tea Party stalwarts will clash with hawks and interventionists over defense spending and the need for robust engagement in places like Afghanistan. McCain has said that the debate "between the isolationists and those who believe we have a role to play in the world ... will rage between now and the next elections."

I say: Let it rage on. Competition over ideas is nothing new for Republicans. In the 1970s, the neoconservatives clashed with Kissingerian realpolitik. The outcome of that fight was not fragmentation, but rather Ronald Reagan's presidency, which still serves as the right's guiding star and strategic vision for America's role in the world.
....
If the GOP is to stand for something more than lower taxes and smaller government, it must return to the moral vision of a world in which the United States helps others achieve the freedoms it holds so dear. There are some without a compass for whom America's moral purpose and strategic direction are a matter of continual course correction. But if there's no vision America stands for, then there's nothing worth fighting for. America can indeed nation-build at home -- and abandon the world it has shaped and led. It's up to Republicans to make sure that doesn't happen. Let's get to work.

I chose the Packers back when I was in high school. Between the asshole owner of the Cowboys (Jerry Jones) and the asshole owner of the Oilers/Titans (Bud Adams) in the news all the time when I was a kid, I was sick and tired of all the football drama and politics. Green Bay are the only team where the city owns them. Voila! Asshole owner avoided. Plus, the fans are unfailingly loyal. I like that.

I grew up with them. My earliest memory on TV is Bart Starr to Max McGee for a TD, that was probably SB 1 against KC. So, thick or thin, I've been watching them for, literally, as long as I can remember.

They have no clue how hard it is to amend the Constitution, do they?
Morons.
This has as much chance of happening as snow surviving in hell.

Not to mention the fact that Barack Obama would probably be the first one to veto the idea of him serving more than two terms. After all the shit he's put up with from the GOP, two terms would be enough for anyone.

Who picks their teams by geography? I picked the Vikings the old fashioned way...because I liked their uniforms and their name...yeah, I was 10 at the time, but I picked my team and I'm sticking with it.

I also liked the Vikings when I was about that age because I liked Fran Tarkenton, who was small and famous for scrambling a lot...

Growing up around Chicago in the late 60's and 70's, I paid almost no attention to the Bears or the Cubs.

A very small yet powerful contingent of people have 100% of the control of all resources/ foreign aide monies. Same thing with North Korea. The people are totally powerless

This. The situation was created by the British during the colonial period (added emphasis mine):

The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) comprises a set of laws of Pakistan that are applicable to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The law states that three basic rights are not applicable to the residents of FATA – appeal, wakeel and daleel (respectively, the Right to Appeal detention, the Right to Legal Representation, and the Right to present reasoned evidence).

The FCR has its origins in laws that were enacted by the British Raj in the Pashtun-inhabited tribal areas in the Northwest of British India. They were specifically devised to counter the opposition of the Pashtuns to British rule, and their main objective was to protect the interests of the British Empire. Over a century later, the laws continue to be applied to FATA residents by the Government of Pakistan.

I seriously doubt the Pakistani government could step in and control the area even if they had the will do to so, not only because of the huge (and porous) border with Afghanistan but also because of the mountainous terrain (not to mention tribal loyalties). Additionally, it's part of their constitution:

Under the Constitution, FATA is included among the territories of Pakistan (Article 1)....Today, FATA continues to be governed primarily through the Frontier Crimes Regulation 1901. It is administered by Governor of the KPK in his capacity as an agent to the President of Pakistan, under the overall supervision of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions in Islamabad (Khan, 2005). [...]

Interference in local matters is kept to a minimum. The tribes regulate their own affairs in accordance with customary rules and unwritten codes, characterized by collective responsibility for the actions of individual tribe members and territorial responsibility for the area under their control. The government functions through local-level tribal intermediaries, the maliks (representatives of the tribes) and lungi holders (representatives of sub-tribes or clans), who are influential members of their respective clan or tribe (Shinwari, undated).

All civil and criminal cases in FATA are decided under the Frontier Crimes Regulation 1901 by a jirga (council of elders). Residents of the tribal areas may, however, approach the apex courts (Supreme Court of Pakistan and Peshawar High Court) with a constitutional writ challenging a decision issued under the 1901 Regulation. [...]

As sattv said, the people are basically powerless, and it has long been my understanding that any actual "power" the Pakistani President might have to intervene in governance of the area is largely cosmetic. It's not a simple matter matter of, "Okay, send in the troops to clean it up." Doing so would probably result in a civil war. Then there's the situation with Kashmir in the northeast... I'm fairly certain India wouldn't be pleased if all hell broke loose in Pakistan either, esp. since they have nukes.

Scott Walker has strongly focused on those who are or can be persuaded to be voters who will cast ballots for him. Convicted felons, if their voting rights are restored, overwhelmingly vote for Democrats (John Gresham said it best, "A liberal is a conservative who's been arrested.") and thus Gov. Walker has no interest in doing things for them.

The splits in the GOP are more basic than that: they are about accepting the role of science, women, gays and minorities in society.

They're also about accepting every bit of social and political progress since Gutenberg invented movable type. There is a considerable part of the GOP that wants us back in the theocratic Dark Ages, and unfortunately for all of us, they make up the party base.

There's no reason to eliminate term limits for POTUS. The amendment is a fucking stupid idea.

Not to mention that the process of amending the constitution takes multiple years even if the vast majority of Congress and state legislatures are for the idea. Obama would be long out of office before such an amendment ever passed, not that it ever could in this political climate anyway.

Still we laughed at Bachmann trying to repeal the ACA for the 33rd time, let the wingnuts have their laugh at Serrano for doing his own imitation of tilting at windmills.

The splits in the GOP are more basic than that: they are about accepting the role of science, women, gays and minorities in society.

There will probably always be a regressive element among conservatives, it's just one of the pit falls of the philosophy. Despite the overused comparisons of Republicans to the Taliban, there's no youth appeal towards conservatism in the West and these old school dinosaurs won't be around much longer.

There will probably always be a regressive element among conservatives, it's just one of the pit falls of the philosophy. Despite the overused comparisons of Republicans to the Taliban, there's no youth appeal towards conservatism in the West and these old school dinosaurs won't be around much longer.

There could be an appeal for the young on conservatism, but that is not what the modern republican party is about. They do not know what conservatism is. They are radicals.

There will probably always be a regressive element among conservatives, it's just one of the pit falls of the philosophy. Despite the overused comparisons of Republicans to the Taliban, there's no youth appeal towards conservatism in the West and these old school dinosaurs won't be around much longer.

The scary part being that the old fogies that are dying off are being replaced with "young guns" who are even crazier than they. Men like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul are the face of the GOP's future.

YES...a larger roll for John Bolton would have earned DOZENS more votes!

They can't just come out and admit that the foreign policies favored by Obama really are the same ones favored by the majority of the GOP. Oh no, they have to try to find a way to insert some daylight between themselves and Obama by claiming that it was just due to a lack of a "coherent vision" on Romney's part.

There is therefore a growing consciousness among whites, especially among older ones, that Democratic programs not only benefit the poor at the expense of the middle class, but that they benefit blacks and Hispanics at the expense of whites. This consciousness is heightened by current economic realities, because government policies to bring about redistribution of monies from a stagnant or shrinking economic pie impose obvious and painful costs upon the middle class. It is also heightened by changing demographic realities, because the black and Hispanic proposition of the American population is steadily increasing, with these two groups already accounting for a majority of births in the United States each year. [...]

An obvious alternative path for the Republican Party in expanding its electoral base leads from the South to the rest of America, i.e. from the Republicans being the white party in the South to the Republicans being the white party in America as a whole. In the 2012 presidential election Romney got 60 percent of the white vote, while Obama received only 38 percent. Of course the Republican establishment knows how dangerous and destructive it would be to have an American party system defined and divided along racial lines, even if not explicitly or overtly so. However, if the Party grows more desperate to gather voters in hard times, its younger political entrepreneurs might calculate that a racial path for the Party might well be the best path to advance their own ambitions, and themselves.

The scary part being that the old fogies that are dying off are being replaced with "young guns" who are even crazier than they. Men like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul are the face of the GOP's future.

I think that's what the Tea Party (as a popular movement) was intended to market to young voters but it flopped. It attracted no new voters in any significant numbers and youth appeal was nonexistent. As a political movement (candidates funded by superpacs) it worked out well. I don't think Rand will inherit his father's cult, it was such a fluke I don't think it can be repeated. Paul Ryan has a better chance at being the future of the party but as the Foreign Policy article points out, the single minded focus on low taxes is probably a historical dead end.

However, if the Party grows more desperate to gather voters in hard times, its younger political entrepreneurs might calculate that a racial path for the Party might well be the best path to advance their own ambitions, and themselves.

I don't think that has much of a chance here in America. In Europe I think the danger is greater where these fringe nationalist parties can make some surprising gains. We had a thread here a while back about the possibility of Republicans emulating the EDL. I don't think it's something that can be successfully replicated here, just not enough youth support.

Far righties who want little to no gov't and the elimination of the Fed

Far lefties who he appeals to with his isolationist stance as well as the libertarian drug views

Who says never the twain shall meet !?!?!?

The cult of Ron Paul was really an interesting phenomenon and just about the only youth appeal the Right has been able to muster in my lifetime. I really think one of the key factors was just the counterculture coolness factor along with an occasional endorsement from a famous musician or movie star.

I think that's what the Tea Party (as a popular movement) was intended to market to young voters but it flopped. It attracted no new voters in any significant numbers and youth appeal was nonexistent. As a political movement (candidates funded by superpacs) it worked out well. I don't think Rand will inherit his father's cult, it was such a fluke I don't think it can be repeated. Paul Ryan has a better chance at being the future of the party but as the Foreign Policy article points out, the single minded focus on low taxes is probably a historical dead end.

I'm not sure that low taxes the the dead end you think. True, other issues can drive a party, but low taxes are something that Republicans have found a willing audience for for decades. If anything, what has been a hindrance has been the idea of the rich paying lower taxes, something that could be sold as a necessity during times of economic growth, but not so much in contraction.

The cult of Ron Paul was really an interesting phenomenon and just about the only youth appeal the Right has been able to muster in my lifetime. I really think one of the key factors was just the counterculture coolness factor along with an occasional endorsement from a famous musician or movie star.

So weird that he can get them from a Kelly Clarkson and (the likes of a) Lawrence Welk

I don't think that has much of a chance here in America. In Europe I think the danger is greater where these fringe nationalist parties can make some surprising gains. We had a thread here a while back about the possibility of Republicans emulating the EDL. I don't think it's something that can be successfully replicated here, just not enough youth support.

I hope to hell you're right, but I'm not entirely convinced it couldn't happen here, not after the ugliness I've seen over the past 4-5 years. I found the article interesting, especially the historical background, but when I got to the last section it really creeped me out.

As I mentoned, the creep factor was magnified by being in the middle of reading Blood and Politics as the guy who wrote it is not some flaky moonbat alarmist type, but someone who has been researching the far right and racist & anti-Semitic organizations for 30 years. He talks about Ron Paul and other politicians' connections to the White Nationalist movement, and today, right now, you can see exactly some of the things he warned about in 2009.

Hell, I don't like women broadcasters to begin with, yet alone bitch "jungle-bunnies"... (What's she doing on the air anyway? She doesn't even like golf (and said so on the air))- that's no sports person. This "spear-chucker" needs to go away.

Get her outta there, before she back-slides into some ebonics-laden inarticulate mumbo jumbo tirade.

Short sound bites from (male) black jocks is tolerable. But, I'm NOT interested in spending all day listening to some thick-lipped gorilla, attemping to properly speak the Kings English.

Wow! does it get any worse? I love Jemele. Great writer and commentator.
I've emailed her several times since she joined ESPN and she is really a funny lady and can cause you to blush and laugh at the same time. she would be a riot to date.

Wow! does it get any worse? I love Jemele. Great writer and commentator.I've emailed her several times since she joined ESPN and she is really a funny lady and can cause you to blush and laugh at the same time. she would be a riot to date.